Peace Quotes

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” Martin Luther King Jr.

“Anger is like gasoline. If you spray it around and somebody lights a match, you've got an inferno. [But] if we can put our anger inside an engine, it can drive us forward.” Scilla Elworthy 

"I was just trying to get to work." Rosa Parks

"I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women-not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." John F Kennedy

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F Kennedy

"Peace is its own reward" Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice, of law, of order – in short, of government.” Albert Einstein

"So many guns around and so few brains." Humphrey Bogart

"Be at peace with yourself, if you are not at peace with yourself, you are at peace with nothing." Ron W. Rathbun

"Entre los individuos como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" Benito Juarez 

"Peace is every step." Thich Nhat Hanh

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." John F Kennedy

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." John Lennon

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

"Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is." Kofi Annan

"Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world." Malala Yousafzai

Reference http://www.visionofhumanity.org/

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Peace Quotes

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” Martin Luther King Jr.

“Anger is like gasoline. If you spray it around and somebody lights a match, you've got an inferno. [But] if we can put our anger inside an engine, it can drive us forward.” Scilla Elworthy

"I was just trying to get to work." Rosa Parks

"I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women-not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." John F Kennedy

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F Kennedy

"Peace is its own reward" Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice, of law, of order – in short, of government.” Albert Einstein

"So many guns around and so few brains." Humphrey Bogart

"Be at peace with yourself, if you are not at peace with yourself, you are at peace with nothing." Ron W. Rathbun

"Entre los individuos como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" Benito Juarez 

"Peace is every step." Thich Nhat Hanh

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." John F Kennedy

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." John Lennon

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

"Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is." Kofi Annan

"Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world." Malala Yousafzai

Reference

• http://www.visionofhumanity.org

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Aung San Suu Kyi – The Nine Nobel Women (8)

At the ceremony for Aung San Suu Kyi in December 1991, she was still being held in detention by the military dictatorship in Myanmar (Burma) and could only be represented by her two sons, her husband and her picture facing the audience. In his speech presenting the prize to her sons, Professor Francis Sejersted, chairman of the committee, declared, "Her absence fills us with fear and anxiety," but he felt we could also have confidence and hope. He went on to sum up the meaning of her prize:

In the good fight for peace and reconciliation, we are dependent on persons who set examples, persons who can symbolize what we are seeking and mobilize the best in us. Aung San Suu Kyi is just such a person. She unites deep commitment and tenacity with a vision in which the end and the means form a single unit. Its most important elements are: democracy, respect for human rights, reconciliation between groups, non-violence, and personal and collective discipline.

The sources of her inspiration, Sejersted explained, were Mahatma Gandhi, about whom she had learned when her mother was ambassador to India, and her father, Aung San, the leader in Burma's struggle for liberation. She was only two when he was assassinated, but she had made his life a center of her studies. From Gandhi she drew her commitment to nonviolence, from her father the understanding that leadership was a duty and that one can only lead in humility and with the confidence and respect of the people to be led. Both were examples for her of independence and modesty, and Aung San represented what she called "a profound simplicity."

We must add that undergirding her political philosophy in spirit and deed has always been her Buddhist faith, which is also the foundation for her belief in human rights. In championing human rights in her political opposition to the military dictatorship, she needed to be fearless. Sejersted referred to the incident during her election campaigning when she courageously faced a detachment of soldiers, whose officer lined them up in front of her, prepared to fire if she continued to walk down that street, which she did.

Several times in his speech Sejersted cited the collection of her essays, entitled Freedom from Fear, which her husband, Michael Aris, edited and published before the ceremony, so that her voice could be heard beyond the reach of her oppressors. The title essay begins, "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it." Fearlessness is the best response to governmental violence. In conclusion she writes that "truth, justice and compassion... are often the only bulwarks against ruthless power." These are the teachings of Buddha.

Sejersted told how Suu Kyi spent many years abroad, first when with her diplomat mother in her younger years, then studying at Oxford, working at the United Nations in New York, marrying Aris, a British Tibetan scholar, starting a family when they were in Bhutan, finally ending up in England, after scholarly assignments in Japan and India. Burma was always on her mind and heart, however, especially after the military seized power in 1962. When she married Aris, she told him that one day she must return to Burma when she was needed.

It was to nurse her dying mother that she returned from England, but as the daughter of Aung San, she could not stay aloof when she saw the government brutally repressing a popular movement in opposition. She headed a political party in the elections which the military permitted, but she was so successful that even before election day, she was ordered confined to her home. Nevertheless, her party won by a great majority, after which its other leaders were jailed.

"We ordinary people, I believe," Sejersted declared, "feel that with her courage and her high ideals, Aung San Suu Kyi brings out something of the best in us... The little woman under house arrest stands for a positive hope. Knowing she is there gives us confidence and faith in the power of good."

As of this writing Suu Kyi is still under detention, separated from her family, despite efforts of many governments and the United Nations to secure her liberation. A group of Nobel peace laureates only got as far as Thailand in an attempt to bring their petition to the military dictators who hold her. In 1994, however, a U.S. congressman was permitted to see her, and, as a result of mediation by a Buddhist monk, she had a conference with members of the government. There is now more hope.

Reference

• http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/themes/peace/heroines/index.html

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